Is Hentai Haram? (Drawn Awrah)

Question

Everyone knows that Pornography is Haram, there is no doubt about that. It is not prohibited in the Quran directly, yet it falls into the generalization stated in this Verse:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ - 16:90

According to the Al-Mawrid Arabic-English dictionary of Munir Baalbaki, Fuhash is obscenity, vulgarity, indecency, shamelessness and something that is dirty, filthy and foul. (porn falls into all of these categories)

And there is also a hadith that won't leave a single atom of doubt in your mind about the prohibition of Porn (since it involves the awrah of women):

Abu Dawood (3140) and Ibn Maajah (1460) narrated that ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not show your thigh, and do not look at the thigh of anyone, living or dead.”

These two evidences in the Islamic Sharia clearly show us that not only is Porn haram, but it is so forbidden that it falls into not one, but two haram categories (being shameless and showing awrah of women)

Porn is haram, there is not doubt about that, yet the thing that confuses me is Hentai (Anime Porn), or any type of cartoon/animated Porn, and it's permissibility in Islam. Animated Porn is no different from imagining women (Which is not haram). The reasons why I personally think it is virtually impossible for animated Porn to be Haram are as follows:

-It does not apply to the Quranic Verse stated above, because it is not vulgar, shameless or filthy since it is all a work of fiction, the women in these cartoons never existed, and these things aren't actually happening. It is no different from imagining sex because they are simply animated drawings (which are nothing but lines and colors), it is not shameless, filthy or vulgar at all.

-It does not apply to the Hadith stated above, because it does not involve real awrah. When one watches animated porn they are only seeing drawn awrah, and Islam is silent on this issue. There is no evidence in the Quran or the Hadith that looking at drawn awrah is haram. And according to the basic rules and principles of Islam that Allah gave us out of his Mercy, anything is permissible until there is solid evidence to prove that it is not.

Animated Porn is like turkey bacon, which is permissible in Islam because it doesn't contain pork like normal bacon. Animated Porn is different from normal Porn because just like turkey bacon, everything that would make it haram is removed, it just shares the name of Porn. Similarly, everything that is haram in Porn is removed in animated Porn (No vulgarity or shamelessness, and no real awrah)

So my question is: Is Hentai (cartoon porn) Haram even after everything I mentioned? And if it is, please give me evidence that clearly prohibits looking at drawn awrah to justify it's inadmissibility.

Answer 1

IslamWeb

IslamWeb declare that hentai is prohibited. They write:

It is not permissible to see or keep pornographic cartoon pictures for several reasons:

Firstly, the Prophet forbade image making (sculpturing and taking pictures) of living creatures and urged us to erase and destroy them.

Secondly, pornographic cartoon pictures, even if they are not pictures of real people, they imitate the pictures of dissolute people and reveal private parts, and they could even erase one's desires. So there is no difference between these pictures and the pictures of real naked persons.

The evidence cited in this fatwa is:

Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it. -- Sahih al-Bukhari 2225

along with two other hadiths relating to images. The second part was not supported by evidence from the Qur'an or Sunnah.

Islam Q&A

Islam Q&A concur on the two points by IslamWeb. They support the second point using the ayah:

Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. -- Qur'an 24:30

Also, they cite the hadith:

A woman should not look at or touch another woman to describe her to her husband in such a way as if he was actually looking at her. -- Sahih al-Bukhari 5241

From this they deduce that

...if simply describing, which leads to a man imagining a non-mahram woman, is not permissible, then it is more appropriate that it should be forbidden to look at images accompanied by sound, even if they are drawings, because that is more provocative than merely imagining, so it is more appropriate that it should be prohibited.

Answer 2

To me answer is clear and you already give it yourself (the asker).

(16:90) Surely Allah enjoins justice, kindness and the doing of good to kith and kin, and forbids all that is shameful, evil and oppressive. He exhorts you so that you may be mindful.

and

(17:32) Do not go near adultery. It is truly a shameful deed and an evil way.

It says do not even go near it, which is anything around it, like pornography, hentai (which means pervert).

Answer 3

Hentai is a form of porn, so yes, it is haraam. Any type of porn is forbidden, whether it be cartoon or not. Also, it is disgusting. Don't waste your time reading/watching it.

Edit: the Quran says: 'And come not even close to Zina. Indeed it is obscenity and a most evil way.' (Al-Isra’: 33)

Now, according to hadith: 'Lustful glances constitute Zina of the eyes. Listening (to flirtations or lewd talks or songs) constitute Zina of the ears. (Licentious and lewd) speech constitutes Zina of the tongue. The (lustful) grip of the hand constitutes its Zina, and the movement of the feet (toward the act of Zina) is likewise. The heart lusts and desires. These are then either fulfilled by the private parts or rejected.” (Riyad As-Saliheen)

If the Quran forbids Zina, and Zina constitutes looking at lustful things (like hentai), the it is clearly haraam.

Answer 4

Brother I get your question but one thing we should ask ourselves is does it excite us and provoke us and make us more hyper towards sexuality or not. It definitely does and leads many youth to crave for zinaa(illegal sex) so my brother as we all know the verse in surah israa' that says do not get close to zina, it won't make you abstain from zinaa but instead it'll make you fall into zinaa or masturbating, so look at it's consequences. Islam weighs the good and bad of the things if it's negativity outweighs it's positivity then it's haraam

Answer 5

I am sorry to say this. But I believe that deep down inside of our own heart, we knew that hentai is haram. If we still think that hentai is not haram, then one day we all gonna regret it and fall into the deepest abyss. Sorry if this offense anyone. This is just my opinion. If you are asking for evidence, the you can read all the comments about verses from the quran that have been written. Some of us try to twist the issue to make it suit their taste while in fact, it is clearly haram. I am very sorry and I do not mean to condemned anyone.

Answer 6

Most websites bring up no reason what so ever and just say it is just as bad as real porn without ANY hadeeth or quranic verse which strongly suggests that viewing animated porn is haram. The reason porn on its own is haram is due to the fact that looking at naked pictures or videos of a real woman, in any way, like the brother mentioned is HARAM. But it is a question wether animated porn is haram or not. Do not make things haram unless there is solid evidence. Please brothers and sisters correct me if im wrong as i maybe am much less educated than many of you.